All roads lead to Dallington next Tuesday evening when one of the key matches in the ladies section of the Wilson’s Northampton League is scheduled to take place.
Twelve months ago County A were red hot favourites to retain their ladies crown so if anyone had suggested they would not even finish in the top two positions come August, they would surely have been laughed off court.
Yet that was the case as not only did dark horses Brackley A clinch an historic first Northampton title but the two point runners-up were not County A as one might have suspected but Dallington A, with County a further five points back in third.
While Brackley again look like sustaining a serious challenge this summer, they can no longer call on the services of Beth Shand and combined with the fact the classy full time former professional Ariadne Katsoulis has not played in their last two matches, the suggestion is that Dallington and County A will again be jousting full on.
A weakened Brackley A side could only draw 4-4 at Dallington B last week with number ones Dom Thomas/Lucy Horbatowski winning three, halving 6-4, 2-6 against Lisa Hodges-Cox/Lucy Austin but beating Sue Robertson/Angela Vance 6-2, 6-2. Hodges-Cox/Austin pulled off a hard fought 7-6, 7-5 victory over Ann Auston/Janet Sandford.
With so much dependence on juniors, the exam timetable could be a key factor in Tuesday’s outcome with Dallington relying on the likes of Rachel Kings and back from the USA Cassandra Dix, alongside regulars such as Steph Patching, Rosie Jackson and Alex Lewis.
Dallington suffered a slight hiccup last week when they dropped a set against their own C team, with Sue Vinney/Lucie Murphy scoring a consolation rubber for the C against Steph Patching/Alex Lewis.
Meanwhile, County A have only dropped one set in their first four matches (to Abington A) so the side run by 16 year-old Alice Johns has yet to be seriously tested. Tuesday’s line-up looks like revolving around Laura Mineards, Kate Clayson, Kate Goodwin and Suzanne Clarke.
In other recent top flight ladies matches, Northampton A picked up an 8-0 win at LMRCA while Abington A were 7-1 scorers at Harpole A with the rock solid pair of Amie Norman/Jo Pearson picking up four while Helen Marriott/Lynn Adams bagged three.
CORBY A were 5-3 winners in their latest Division One contest against Northampton A.
The home pairs of Jack Haworth/Darren Palmer and Neil Shorrock/Jamie Wetherell just edged the verdict against James Williams/Josh Winters and Simon Gallo/Matt Hobson.
Haworth/Palmer picked up three sets on the night, halving with James Williams/Josh Winters 2-6, 6-4 but beating Simon Gallo/Matt Hobson 6-2, 7-5 while Shorrock/Wetherell lost 2-6, 5-7 against Williams/Winters but defeated Gallo/Hobson 6-3, 6-4.